News — AFRICAN ENTERTAINMENT

The Ohio Players who first called themselves the Ohio Untouchables, was a pioneering vocal and instrumental funk ensemble out of Dayton, Ohio. Established in 1959, the group comprised its organizer, pianist/principal vocalist Walter Morrison, trumpeters Bruce Napier and Marvin Pierce, vocalist/bass player Marshall Jones, saxophonist/guitarist Clarence Satchell, percussionist Cornelius Johnson, trumpeter/trombonists Ralph Middlebrooks and Greg Webster, guitarist Leroy Bonner, Percussionist James Williams, guitarist Robert Ward, and pianist William Beck. When the group formed, they were all seasoned singers and musicians. Over their career all of them collaborated with the lyrics, arrangements, and orchestrating of their music.

For their first dozen years the band was not particularly successful. In 1968, for example, the Ohio Players released their version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The composition was arranged and performed with prominent elements of doo-wop and jazz and released on their album, Observation in Time, on the Capitol Records label. Critics praised the song and album, but it did not make the charts.

The Ohio Players finally made their mark in the 1970s with a series of hits beginning with the song, “Skin Tight,” which peaked at #11 in 1974 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1975, the group’s most successful record, “Fire” was released and peaked at #1 on the Billboard chart. That success allowed The Ohio Players to be nominated the Best R&B Vocal Performance by Duo, Group, or Chorus at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards in 1976 at the Hollywood Palladium.

Later in 1976, the Ohio Players released “Honey” on the Mercury Records label.  The song peaked at #3. Their next hit, “Love Rollercoaster” peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 chart and received the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) award certification platinum meaning it sold more than one million records.  None of subsequent releases were as successful. “Who’d She Coo?” (1976) peaked at #18, “Angel” (1977) peaked at #41, and “Everybody Up” (1978) finished out the decade by peaking #80.

In 1979, The Ohio Players encountered financial mistakes and professional conflict regarding disagreements for growth and development. They were unable to resolve their disputes and the ensemble disbanded in 1980.

Of the original Ohio Players, Clarence Satchell died at the age of 65 on December 30, 1995, Ralph Middlebrooks died on November 15, 1997, at the age of 78, Robert Ward died on December 25, 2008. He was 60. Cornelius Johnson died on February 1, 2009 at the age of 72. Leroy Bonner died of cancer on January 26, 2013, at age 69 and Marshall Jones died on May 27, 2016. He was 75. Walter “Junie” Morrison, the youngest member of the band, died on January 21, 2017 at the age of 62. Despite their brief success in the mid-1970s, the Ohio Players combined R&B, jazz, and funk to create a legacy that would influence numerous bands that followed them.

William Leonard Roberts II, also known as Rick Ross, is a rapper, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Roberts was born on January 28, 1976, to William Leonard Roberts Sr. and Tommie Roberts in Clarksdale, Mississippi but the family relocated to Miami, Florida, when Ross was young. He attended Miami Carol City Senior High School graduating in 1994. He then attended Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, on a football scholarship before dropping out of college and taking a job in the local construction industry.

In 2000, Roberts’s music career began when he signed with Suave House Records and adopted the rap name, Teflon Don. He made an appearance on Eric Sermon’s 2000 rap album, Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis. Roberts later signed with Slip N Slide Records. In 2006, Roberts released his debut album, Port of Miami that feature hit songs like “Hustlin” and “Push It.” The album was certified platinum, selling over million units. In 2008, Roberts released his second album, Trilla, featuring the singles “Speedin,” “The Boss,” and “Here I Am.” The album would be certified gold, selling over 500,000 units.  In 2009, he released his third album, Deeper Than Rap that features the singles “Mafia Music,” “Magnificent,” “All I Really Want,” and “Maybach Music 2.” That album was also certified.

In 2010, Roberts released Teflon Don with the singles “Super High,” “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast), and “Aston Martin Music.” That album also sold more than 500,000 units. Two years later he released his fifth studio album, God Forgives, I Don’t featuring singles “Touch N’ You,” “So Sophisticated,” “Hold Me Back,” and “Diced Pineapples.” The album was certified gold, selling more than 500,000 units. 

Roberts released other albums including Mastermind (2014), Hood Billionare (2014), Black Market (2015), Rather Than You Me (2017), and Port of Miami 2 (2019).  In 2008, he launched his record label called Maybach Music Group, which signed Olubowale “Wale” Akintimehin, Robert “Meek Mill” Williams, Omari “Omarion” Grandberry, and Richard “Gunplay” Morales Jr. 

Despite his music success, Roberts was involved in several controversies, including rap feuds with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Adding to the controversy, Roberts had legal issues, including a lawsuit from former drug kingpin Ricky “Freeway Rick” Ross, who accused him of stealing his name. He also has a history of health problems that included seizures. On January 27, 2013, Roberts and his girlfriend were targets of a drive-by shooting on his 37th birthday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They escaped uninjured. On March 2, 2018, Roberts suffered a heart attack after being found unresponsive at home in Miami, Florida. He was on life support for 48 hours but recovered. 

Despite the controversies, Roberts remains in the entertainment business as of 2021. Ross has four children including Toie Roberts, William Roberts III, Berkeley Hermes Roberts, and Billon Leonard Roberts. He was one time engaged to Lira “Galore” Mercer.

Pianist, composer, lyricist, “word doubling” singer William Larry Stewart II, known by his stage name, Billy Stewart, was born on March 24, 1937, in Freemen’s Hospital on the campus of Howard University, Washington, D.C. His parents were William Larry Stewart, Sr. and Idabel Stewart and he had three brothers, Frank, James, and Johnny. 

At the age of nine, Stewart played the piano. At 12, he began singing gospel with his three younger brothers. All of them were taught piano by the mother and they were known as “the Stewart Gospel Singers” under the direction of Idabel Steward. In 1955, Billy Steward graduated from Armstrong Technical High School, an all-black high school in then racially segregated Washington, D.C. 

The legendary guitarist Bo Diddley discovered Stewart’s gift and talent as a pianist in 1956 when he saw his performance with the R&B group, the Rainbows, and introduced him to Chicago-based Chess Records’ talent scouts. Stewart signed with Chess in 1956 and recorded his first song “Billy’s Blues,” with Diddley performing in the background on guitar. In 1957, however, Stewart left Chess for Okeh, another Chicago label. There he recorded “Billy’s Heartaches.” 

In the early 1960s, Stewart began working with A&R man Billy Davis where he recorded the songs “Fat Boy,” “Reap What You Sow,” and “Strange Feeling.” All three records made the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 in the R&B charts.

In 1960, Billy Stewart married Sarah B. Stewart and they were the parents of three children.

In 1965, Stewart returned to Chess Records where he created his unique word-doubling singing technique. He released the song, “I Do Love You” which reached # 6 on the R&B chart and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year he recorded “Sitting in the Park,” which hit #4 on the R&B chart and #24 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1966, Stewart uniquely arranged one of the favorite arias from Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess, “Summertime.” Because of his strength in music theory, Stewart brought exceptional excitement to this composition by his extraordinary cadenza scatting skills. The recording reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold more than 700,000 records.

On January 17, 1970, less than three years after releasing his greatest hit., Stewart died when his brand-new Ford Thunderbird went off the road and plunged into the Neuse River in North Carolina. The cause of the accident was a dislocated or cracked thread of the left adjusting sleeve in the steering control area, creating this mechanical failure. Stewart was 32 at the time of his death.

In 1979, Ford Motor Company paid $500,000 to settle a suit filed by Stewart’s family. In 2002, thirty-two years after Billy Stewart’s death, in 2002, he was posthumously inducted into the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame.

Legendary Composer, singer, lyricist Mary Wells was born Mary Esther Wells on May 13, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan to Arthur Wells and Geneva Campbell Wells. Her brothers were Thomas and Fletcher. When she was two years old, Wells was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and partial paralysis. She was visually and hearing impaired. At the age of 10, Wells tested positive for tuberculosis. She did regain her health and was able to function adequately and began singing in local clubs and played the clarinet. 

Wells graduated from Northwest High School in Detroit in 1960. Weeks later. she married R&B-blues singer, conductor, and dancer Herman Lewis Griffin from Selma, Alabama. Later that year she signed with and performed for the first time at Tamla Records, a division of Motown Records. Her first single composition was “Bye Bye Baby” which peaked at # 8 on the Billboard R&B chart and # 45 on the single pop chart in 1961. That same year, Wells signed a contract with the Motown record label. In 1962, she released “The One Who Loves You,” a single that made # 2 on the R&B chart and # 8 on Hot 100. Also, her single “Two Lovers” hit the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100, peaking at # 7, thus becoming Wells’ second # 1 hit on the R&B chart. More than one million copies were sold, earning her a gold disc.

In 1963, Wells’ “You Beat Me to the Punch” was nominated for Best Rock & Roll Recording. By that point she divorced Griffin and began dating guitarist Cecil Dale Womack from Cleveland, Ohio when she was 21 and working on the song “My Guy.” Released in 1964 the song hit # 1 on the U.S R&B chart and was especially popular in Great Britain. That year Wells became the first Motown artist to perform in the United Kingdom, opening for the Beatles on a British tour.

Wells left Motown in 1965 and signed a contract with Atlantic Records in 1966. Later that year her son, “Dear Lover” reached the R&B top 10.  She also married Womack with whom she had two sons, Cecil Jr. and Harry, and one daughter, Stacy.

Wells retired from performing at 27 in 1970 to nurture her family. The retirement, however, was short-lived since from 1971 through 1974, she was back in the studio recording on the Reprise label. She divorced Cecil Womack in 1977 and began living with his brother, Howard Curtis Womack. They had a daughter together named Sugar.

In 1985, Wells appeared and was celebrated at “Motown’s 25th Anniversary “television special, and in 1989, she received an honorary Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

Mary Esther Wells died in Los Angeles, California, on July 26, 1992, of laryngeal cancer. She was 49 years old. After her death, the composition “My Guy” was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and in 2006 she was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

Composer, guitarist, pianist, storyteller Bukka White was born Booker T. Washington White on November 12, 1906, in Houston, Chickasaw County, Mississippi, to Herman and Sarah Farr White. He got his initial start in music, learning the violin with Cajun and blues tunes, and the guitar from his father. White’s mother and legendary blues guitarist B.B. King’s grandmother were sisters.

In 1919 when White was 13, he left for Chicago, where he played on the streets with a blind guitarist. At the age of 14 he returned to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he stayed with an uncle. During that time, he contacted Delta blues legend Charley Patton, who taught him the rudimentary music theory for improvisation on the guitar and fiddle, and introduced him to other instruments. In addition to music, White pursued careers in sport, playing in Negro League baseball and, for a time, taking up boxing. He later served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1944.

In 1930 White met and impressed Ralph Limbo, a talent scout for the Victor label and traveled to Memphis for his first recordings, singing the blues and gospel material. However, Victor only released four of the 14 songs White recorded that day. In 1937, Bukka recorded “Pinebluff Arkansas'” and “Shake ‘em on down” for the Vocalion label in Chicago. During the music session in Memphis, Tennessee police knocked at the door to arrest him for allegedly shooting a man in self-defense. While awaiting the trial, he jumped bail and headed for Chicago, making two recordings before being apprehended and sent back to Mississippi to serve three years at the Mississippi State Penitentiary called Parchman Farm. While he was serving time, White’s record “Shake ’em on down” became a hit.

In 1939 White, while still at Parchman, recorded for folklorist Alan Lomax’s American Music Project which eventually was housed at the Library of Congress. White’s album recorded for Lomax and called Sky Songs, Vols. 1-3, included more than 60 minutes of Blues. “Parchman Farm Blues” was one of the songs. The improvised songs allowed White to tell stories about the dusty street corners, dirt roads, juke joints, and jails that felt like home to him.

By 1970, White was still performing on the blues festival circuit.  He often experimented with new material but his fans waited to hear him play “Parchman Farm Blues.”  In 1973 White released the album Big Daddy which was a commercial and critical success for the 67-year- old bluesman. It was also his last album.

Bukka White died of cancer on February 26, 1977, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 70. However, he was posthumously celebrated in 1990 by being inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. On November 21, 2011, the Recording Academy announced the addition of White’s “Fixin’ to Die Blues” to its 2012 list of Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Conductor, clarinetist, and composer W. Rudolph Dunbar was born on November 26, 1907, in Nabaclis, Guyana. At the age of nine, his musical genius apparent, he was invited to serve as a clarinetist in the British Guiana Militia Band. After a brief apprenticeship for stellar young Afro-Guyanese and Portuguese-Guyanese musicians, Dunbar performed with the Band until he was 13 years old. Over the course of his career, he became the first black man to conduct orchestras in England, Germany, Poland, and Russia.

Nineteen-year-old Dunbar left his native Guyana for New York City in 1926 to enroll in the Institute of Musical Art, now called the Juilliard School. While studying at the Institute, he participated in the Harlem Renaissance’s music activities, working with leading composer William Grant Still. While working with other Renaissance musicians, Dunbar also developed as a Jazz musician.

After graduating from the Institute of Musical Art, in 1932 at the age of 24, Dunbar journeyed to Paris, France, where he continued to develop his musical craft as a soloist and arranger. He conducted ensembles and studied music composition and conducting at the University of Paris at the Sorbonne. In 1937, After six years in Paris, Dunbar continued his studies in Germany and Austria. He then moved to London, England to pursue opportunities as a composer and conductor. While in London he became involved in music journalism, writing a weekly column in London’s The Melody Maker. He later opened the Rudolph Dunbar School of Clarinet Playing in London and authored the music textbook, Treatise on Clarinet Playing (1939).

By the 1940s Dunbar was a sought-after composer and conductor. In 1942, he was invited to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra before an audience of 7,000 in the Royal Albert Hall, becoming the first black person to hold that honor. Three years later, while working as a war correspondent for the American 8th Army, he was invited by Berlin Philharmonic musical director Leo Brochard to conduct William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Afro-American for Allied soldiers in Germany. The concert took place in Allied-occupied Germany on April 12 during the final weeks of the Nazi regime. Dunbar also conducted French symphony orchestras in the late 1940s. In 1951, Dunbar was invited back to Guyana to conduct the British Guiana Militia Band. It was a huge celebration as he returned to lead the band that had first recognized his genius.

By 1962, Dunbar has conducted symphony orchestras and string ensembles throughout Europe, including Poland and the Soviet Union, making him the first Black conductor to enjoy this type of notoriety across that continent. In the USSR he led the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, and the Baku Philharmonic in Krasnodar, North Caucasus.

Dunbar was what would now be called Afrocentric in his approach. He always promoted and performed the music of Black composers. He also used his influence to highlight classical music pieces that honored African and Caribbean countries as they evolved from colonial rule to independence in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

W. Rudolph Dunbar died of cancer on June 10, 1988, in his home in London, England. He was 80 years old at the time of his death.

Robert Kyagulanyi “Bobi Wine” Ssentamu is a Ugandan politician, singer, actor, and businessman.

Bobi Wine was born on February 12, 1982 in Nkozi, Uganda. He grew up in the Kamwekya slums in the northeast part of Kampala, Uganda and attended Kitante Hill Senior Secondary School, located in Kitante, a Kampala neighborhood. He attained his Uganda Certificate of Education in 1996 and later attended Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala. He received a Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education in 1998.

Bobi Wine entered Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda in 1998 where he studied music, dance, and drama. He graduated in 2003. Wine’s music career started in the early 2000s. The main genres of his music are reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat. He had many popular music singles, including “Akagoman,” “Funtala,” and “Sunda.” He led the band Fire Base Crew until the group was disbanded in 2007. Afterward, he started a group called the Ghetto Republic of Uganda. Wine has released more than 70 songs. He also had a film career in local Ugandan movies such as Cleopatra Koheirwe’s 2010 drama Yogera and he had a lead role in the 2019 film Situka with Hellen Lukoma.

In April 2017, 35-year-old Bobi Wine’s political career began when he announced his candidacy for the Ugandan Parliament in a by-election for Kyadondo County East constituency. He won the election by a wide margin, defeating two other candidates, Sitenda Sebalu of the ruling National Resistance Movement Party, and Apollo Kantiniti of Forum for Democratic Change.

He soon became a target of the administration of President Yoweri Museveni.

On August 14, 2018 supporters of the independent candidate for parliament, Kassiano Wardri, attacked Museveni’s convoy in the northern town of Aru. Wine, an outspoken critic of Museveni, declared on social media that police at the same time had shot at his vehicle, killing his driver. Wine then endorsed Wardri’s candidacy against Museveni. The next day he was arrested for unlawful possession of firearms and incitement to violence. Those charges were dismissed by a Ugandan court, but on August 23, he was arrested again. In this instance the Ugandan State Prosecution withdrew the charges against him just before his trial was scheduled to begin.

Wine was arrested a third time and charged with treason. He was released on bail and traveled to the United States for medical treatment for injuries that he allegedly received while in custody.

On July 24, 2019, Wine announced that he would run for president in the 2021 general election. To promote his presidential bid, he joined the National Unity Platform Party. Wine faced President Museveni in the 2021 Ugandan General election. He lost to Museveni amid charges by his supporters of voter tampering and vote suppression. Despite his loss, Wine vowed to remain active in Ugandan politics.

Bobi Wine is married to Barbara Itungo. The couple, who wed in 2011, have four children, Soloman Kampala Nyanzi, Shalom Namagembe, Shadraq Shilling Mbogo, and Suubi Shine Nakaayi.

María Teresa Vera was an Afro-Cuban guitarist, singer, and composer, who is held up as an example of the Cuban “trova” movement. Trova is a rural folk style of music and Vera’s career was extraordinary for a woman of her time. “Viente Anos,” (Twenty Years) is her most well-known song.

She was born on February 6, 1895, in Guanajay, Cuba to a Spanish military man who disappeared from her life, and a Black mother who was a servant in a wealthy Cuban household. The well-off family protected Vera and that is most likely why the granddaughter of slaves could go on to have the highly visible and successful career that she had during her era.

Trova music originated in the Oriente province, centered in the city of Santiago. Trova musicians were traveling artists who performed to earn their living. Like other Afro-Cuban music, Trova’s roots lie in the cabildos of the 17th century, which were self-organized social clubs amongst Cuba’s slave population. Most often these clubs were created around various cultures brought to the island from Africa, so for example, the Yoruba, Congolese, and the Dahomey peoples each formed their own cabildos. Combining influences from Spain (the guitar) with percussion and African rhythms, Trova music was a blending of the cultures of the Caribbean. It is one of the more traditional genres of Cuban music.

Vera first performed publicly at 15. She went on to play the Apollo theater in New York in 1918, and over a 10-year span her various duos recorded more than 140 works. She traveled extensively to perform, and the success of her career help lay the foundations for the international popularity of Cuban music in the 1930s and 1940s. At the height of her popularity, Vera took a multi-year sabbatical from her career, and she was totally silent for three years. It is said that this happened because Vera’s religion (a Yoruba-inspired religious practice) required her to stop. Eventually, Vera was able to continue, and she went on to have another twenty years as a prolific performer.

María Teresa Vera died on December 17, 1965 in Havana, Cuba at age 70.

Nigerian Afrobeats star and Grammy Award-winner, Burna Boy has clocked the enviable title of the first African artiste to have at least three albums being streamed 100 million times each on the global audio streaming service platform Spotify.

This revelation was contained in a tweet by music curators Chart Data. Burna Boy’s last three albums, African Giant, Outside and Twice As Tall, have each received the 100-million mark appreciation from listeners. This makes the Nigerian, whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulum, the most sought-after Afrobeats star.

The record falls into a better perspective when Burna Boy’s works are compared to those of his compatriots among whom include Wizkid and Davido. The pair have also attained 100 million streams on at least one previous album. But together, Burna Boy, Wizkid and Davido are currently Africa’s most recognizable musical acts globally.

Twice As Tall was awarded best global music album at this year’s Grammy Awards, and a lot of the praise went for Burna Boy’s mother and manager, Bose Ogulu.

Ogulu was named as one of the 2021 International Power Players by Billboard. Billboard’s International Power Players list recognizes industry leaders nominated by their companies and peers and selected by Billboard’s editors, with primary responsibility outside the United States, Billboard said. Honorees included label executives, music publishers, independent entrepreneurs, artist managers and concert promoters.

Ogulu, also known as Mama Burna, was recognized for her work amid the 2020 pandemic, when she co-executive-produced, released and promoted the Twice As Tall album for her Grammy award-winning son, Burna Boy, Billboard said.

Mama Burna herself comes from a proud family associated with music. Her father, Benson Idonije, was a popular radio host and Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti’s first band manager. Getting exposed to the music industry and the Nigerian art world at a young age, Ogulu was inspired to study languages. With a Bachelor of Arts in foreign languages and a Masters of Arts in translation from the University of Port Harcourt, she worked as a translator for the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce.

In a recent sit-down on Red Table Talk, legendary singer Bobby Brown said he believes his daughter’s ex-fiancée, Nick Gordon, was responsible for her death as well as that of his ex-wife, Whitney Houston.

Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012. The 48-year-old’s cause of death was ruled as drowning due to heart disease and cocaine intoxication. Their daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, also died under similar circumstances after Gordon found her unresponsive in a bathtub in 2015. She later died at a hospice after she was placed in a medically induced coma. Her autopsy report concluded she died as a result of drowning and “mixed drug intoxication.”

Asked if he believed Gordon played a role in his ex-wife and daughter’s deaths by providing them the drugs, Brown said yes. “He was the only one there with both situations with my ex-wife and with my daughter and they both died the exact same way,” the 52-year-old told hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Norris and Willow Smith.

Though Gordon was not criminally charged for the 22-year-old’s demise, a civil lawsuit that was filed against him found him liable for her death. “This is my opinion of who I think this young man was being around my daughter and being around my ex-wife,” the singer added. “I think he was more so a provider of party favors to them.”

The My Prerogative singer also said Gordon abused and controlled his daughter and he believes that was another contributory factor to her death. “She unfortunately was stuck in a relationship, an abusive relationship, with a boy that basically controlled her to the point where her life was taken,” he said.

Despite admitting he and his daughter grew apart following the death of Houston, Brown said they eventually managed to patch things up and Bobbi was even supposed to come over to his place two days before her death.

“The three [or] four months before her passing, we had become closer and closer,” he revealed. “I know she had a plane ticket and everything ready to come stay with me. It was just a matter of two days before she would’ve been on a flight. Two days before this all happened. If I could just get those two days back, she’d still be here, because I would have found out what was going on to do something about it.”

He also said he only got to know about the physical abuse meted out to his daughter by Gordon only after her death and had planned to confront him over it. That meeting, however, never saw the light of day as Gordon also passed away from a heroin overdose last year.

“I was in rehab at the time when he [Gordon] passed,” Brown recalled. “I had planned on, once I left rehab, to approach the young man just to find out how my daughter was in her last days. But no, I never got a chance to find out from him or talk to him.”

Nevertheless, Brown said he tries to push forward and not dwell too much on the double tragedies. Brown’s son, Bobby Brown Jr., also passed away last year after an accidental drug overdose.

“It was rough, and it still is rough. I think about it every day,” he admitted before adding: “[The pain is] pushed down. I’m keeping it away from me as much as possible because I couldn’t do nothing then and I can’t do anything now.”

The mid-2000s were a great time for hip-hop. New sounds and artists sprang up and many of these artists became instant hitmakers. But while some sustained their success, others faded away just like the way they emerged onto the scene.

One of those who went away was Chamillionaire, fondly remembered for his 2005 hit song “Ridin”.

In 2005, “Ridin” was a global hit and was a favorite choice for everyone’s ringtone. The song was atop the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks. But interestingly, the social message of “Ridin” – essentially addressing the profiling of young Black men by the police – went over many heads. After that hit single, Chamillionaire, unsuccessfully, released a couple of others.

As his music career begun to take a downward trajectory, Chamillionaire, had a ‘Plan B.’ He quickly learned the ropes of becoming an entrepreneur. 15 years on, he has transitioned from a rapper to a big-time entrepreneur, investing in tech firms and early start-ups.

Born Hakeem Seriki in Washington D.C., the rapper actually began his entrepreneurial journey in 2004 when he founded his own record label called Chamillitary Entertainment. He later invested in Maker Studio, a multipurpose digital platform, which was sold to Disney for a reported $500 million in 2014.

Chamillionaire then joined Upfront Ventures as its “entrepreneur-in-residence” in 2015. The Santa Monica based venture capital firm invests in early-stage technology companies. It is the largest venture capital company in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds. Some of its notable investment includes Ulta, Overture, PayPal Credit, TrueCar, Disney Digital Network, Kyriba, and Ring.

The Grammy-winning rapper also invested in Cruise which has been acquired by General Motors for $1 billion) and ride-sharing app, Lyft, according to Forbes. The rapper has also bought stakes in Ring, a doorbell technology that has been acquired by Amazon.

In 2018, he launched his own app named Convoz to rival Twitter which he believes has been hijacked by trolls. The video-centric app aims to be a “place where you go to talk to people,” he told TechCrunch. 

“I just wasn’t happy with the communication channels that are currently [exist] on social media,” he added. The app allows users to post a 15-second video to celebrities of their choice. They can watch and decide to respond or not.

According to CNBC, the bullish investor holds investments in more than 40 start-up companies. He recently announced a competition to invest $100,000 in a minority or woman founded start-up company. Haitian born Pierre Laguerre, who made an entry with his fleeting company, emerged as the winner. Fleeting is a mobile platform that connects commercial truck drivers with on-demand trucking jobs.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the rapper and entrepreneur has a net worth of over $50 million. But there’s no betting against the 40-year-old rising up the millionaire ladder.

27-year-old multi-hyphenate entertainer Keke Palmer is taking her viral Instagram comedy sketches to Amazon. Palmer has teamed up with Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, to publish new short story series based on her original Instagram characters and sketch comedy videos.

A press release said readers and listeners will be able to download the collection as a Kindle eBook or as an Audible audiobook, performed by Palmer herself.

The idea for her comedy sketches was born nearly five years ago on Instagram. Her short binge-able sketches have amassed over 100 million views, with the headlining character, Lady Miss Jacqueline, gaining over 60 million views. 

“What started as an Instagram sketch, led me to one of my most beloved characters, Lady Miss Jacqueline. She’s always been larger than life—and a huge symbol of the moment when I realized I wanted to create worlds for my audience to get lost in. In effect, she was the beginning of my production journey. The opportunity to share what makes her not only funny but important, is exciting!” said Palmer. 

Palmer told Variety that Amazon shares in her plans for her sketches, and now she can co-produce her works with the giant media platform. The collection of comedy sketches will be published by Amazon Original Stories in fall 2021.

“The team at Amazon Original Stories and I have a shared vision and what they have already been able to accomplish pushes me to bring my best and then some. I can’t wait to together share a new side of Lady Miss, her truth, and comedy with the world!” said Palmer. 

So far, she has tackled issues about class, race, femininity, and culture in her short stories and is thrilled to embark on this new phase with Amazon, exploring more themes that are more relatable to people growing up in this millennium. 

“I think there are a lot of important themes that are going to be very relatable to the growing person in this millennium, and so I’m excited to see how they feel it’s expressed.”

Amazon Original Stories publisher Julia Sommerfeld said, “We are thrilled to team up with Keke to help expand her unique vision and an unforgettable cast of characters into a broader literary universe. 

“We like to think of Amazon Original Stories as serving as a playground for an innovator like Keke, to bring her ground-breaking characters to life in new ways and to push the boundaries of storytelling.”

Palmer’s short stories, featuring illustrations throughout, will take readers and listeners into the “hilarious and fully realized world of her beloved characters, expanding on their backstories and building a plot that answers the most asked questions from her fans,” according to the release.

Readers and listeners are not going to get a new story each time but will get a different point of view each time from the same story, Palmer said.